Alon Liel, the former director general of Israel’s foreign ministry, told Al Jazeera that a ceasefire deal in Gaza “looks as if it’s going to happen very soon”.

“The feeling is that there is no choice this time,” he said during the interview.

“We have to go along with it because the international pressure, or to be more exact — the American pressure — has doubled. It’s two presidents now working on it — it’s Biden and Trump together, putting the pressure … and it looks very effective on our right-wing government.”

There is a “big change” in Israel’s mood in recent weeks, and internal politics don’t appear to be an obstacle to completing a deal, Liel added.